About Me

I saw active service in conventional, clandestine and covert units of the South African Defence Force. I was the founder of the Private Military Company (PMC) Executive Outcomes in 1989 and its chairman until I left in 1997. Until its closure in 1998, EO operated primarily in Africa helping African governments that had been abandoned by the West and were facing threats from insurgencies, terrorism and organised crime. EO also operated in South America and the Far East. I believe that only Africans (Black and White) can truly solve Africa’s problems. I was appointed Chairman of STTEP International in 2009 and also lecture at military colleges and universities in Africa on defence, intelligence and security issues. Prior to the STTEP International appointment, I served as an independent politico-military advisor to several African governments. I am a contributor to The Counter Terrorist magazine. All comments in line with the topics on this blog are welcome. As I consider this to be a serious look at military and security matters, foul language and political or religious debates will not be entertained on this blog.

Friday, August 19, 2011

LOCKERBIE BOMBING: ANOTHER BLOG, ANOTHER LIE

I am used to being falsely accused of many things although I never expected a so-called Professor Emeritus to allow his blog to be used for disinformation purposes – unless, of course, he has proof of what he allows to be placed on his site or he is acting as someone’s propaganda agent.

Even less did I expect Professor Robert Black (http://lockerbiecase.blogspot.com/2011/07/general-magnus-malan.html), a man of the legal profession and who so eloquently states on his blog that he “is often referred to as the architect of the Lockerbie trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands” to allow such a libellous and slanderous comment to be placed on his blog without even taking to trouble to verify it. This certainly does not say much for the esteemed professor’s abilities as a man of the law.

The lie I am referring to was placed by a person who identified himself as Patrick Haseldine. This buffoon wrote the following:

Eeben Barlow, commander of South Africa’s Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) Europe Branch coordinated the Lockerbie Bombing on 21 December 1988 by targeting UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, the most prominent of the 270 victims.

At Heathrow airport, CCB operatives had six hours in which to substitute the “bomb bag” for Bernt Carlsson’s checked-in suitcase, while Carlsson was attending a meeting in London with De Beers diamond cartel. No trace of his suitcase was ever found following the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster.

The esteemed professor simply published Haseldine’s lie without doing any research. As he touts himself as “the architect of the Lockerbie trial”, I have to question his legal reasoning – and feel pity those whose interests he apparently claims to be working for.

Perhaps Patrick Haseldine (and maybe even Professor Black?) is still smarting from the fact that EO destroyed the terrorist groups UNITA in Angola and RUF in Sierra Leone (perhaps they would prefer the term “liberation movements”), thus leading to financial losses all round? After all, many people – and even listed companies - were supporting these two groups in exchange for cheap diamonds.

Since Patrick Haseldine has decided to spread lies about me, I have decided to spread the truth about him. Haseldine was a British civil servant that was found unsuitable for service and considered to be a mediocre government official. Apparently, his superior prepared two confidential reports on his performance whilst he was employed by the UK’s FCO – both of which were very unflattering. One report even stated that he had “some serious weaknesses, not good enough to get by”. He could have been demoted, taken early retirement or even dismissed. These reports were counter-signed by different officers who agreed with the conclusion of his superior, namely that he was not suited to work in a political department. He was eventually given the boot and sacked.

Now, were I to say that I will trace the good professor and pay him a visit next time he is in South Africa, he will no doubt state on his blog that I have threatened him and then most probably ask for South African Police protection. But, I also have to wonder who in Military Intelligence visits him whilst he is here?

The dear professor should however not worry as I am not about to waste my time on someone such as he. I would however love to meet this gigantic legal brain.

I have made my feelings on the UN’s Peacekeeping Department perfectly clear – and I shall stand by them. I have long held the belief that they create conflicts in Africa and then prolong them. One only has to do a bit of research on their performance to come to that realisation.

I trust that Professor Black (he has certainly given meaning to the term “black propaganda”) will likewise stand by the comment he allowed on his blog that I was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. Given that the professor probably has a cosy relationship with the South Africa law enforcement agencies, I also hope he will now call for my extradition to stand trial for a crime I never committed.

I would love to stand trial for this alleged crime and I cannot wait to hear what evidence Haseldine and Black will present during my trial.

Note 1: Thanks to “Jackson” for the Private Message referring me to Black’s site. I will also post this comment on Black’s blog.

Note 2: On 25th August, Prof Robert Black, the man who deemed it necessary to allow a posting on his blog alleging that I was the “mastermind” behind the Lockerbie bombing, finally came to his legal senses with a comment on his blog. He wrote: Because Patrick Haseldine does not have any evidence. This correspondence is now closed. All further contributions will be deleted. (I just love his rape of English or perhaps in his haste, he simply used a full stop where he shouldn’t have).

Unbelievable! he may next blame 9/11 , the biblical plagues and rising inflation on you too. if it werent such a serious statement it would almost be hysterical. you must have superior patience, i would most likely have freaked a long time ago.allow me to apologise on behalf of this poor man.mike (ex EO employee)and no MR Haseldine i am not one of the shadowy assassins employed by MR Eeben Barlow or the old regime in South Africa or the CIA, KGB, FBI,CNA, PNA or KFC. just a grateful ex employee of a now closed dynamic company that changed the region for the better, simply take a look for yourself.

sorry to bother you Eeben. i just couldnt contain myself. i had to make myself heard on the comments of this mans supposed informative blog.: i posted the following. this comment i have added because i stand by those that employed me and showed that we were a breed apart. these supposed high brow intellectuals sure know how to park their feet in their mouths so to say.i dont expect you to post this on your blog, i just had to have my say and besides he doesnt have comment moderation activated , so what does he really think will happen when he makes extravagant otherworldly claims!?

michael b said... INCREDULOUS! where did you get your intel from? prey tell? hells teeth, that is some fancy mental gymnastics you tout about Eeben Barlow. next you will blame him for the biblical plagues, world war two, 9/11 and the crucifixion. you are obviously an educated man but education does not necessary mean intelligent. you need more than circumstantial evidence to support a theory before publishing possibly libellous comments. you of all people should know this. what gives? did you have a brain fart? i am an ex Executive Outcomes employee and i am not some pseudo assassin of the old apartheid state or of Eeben Barlow. check your factoids before spewing garbage.michael b da silva

EO has been wrongfully accused of a lot of things in the past but I really think this takes the cake. This accusation is so far out into the lunatic fringe that it is obvious someone is simply "grabbing at straws" in order to gain attention upon themselves. This will blow over like so many other stupid and unsubstantiated claims have in the past. Are people really dumb enough to believe this garbage in this day and age?

I eagerly await seeing whatever reply you get. It should be good for entertainment value if nothing else.

It is obvious that this person is deluded and desperate for attention, hence my suggestion that he gets some serious help. However, I think your wit will have passed over his head especially where re CNA, PNA and KFC. But then again, he seems to be quite the Googler.

I have learnt to laugh off these poor souls. However I pity the folks who lost loved ones and who make use of these clowns as it is apparent that they are nothing other than poor lonely people who are trying to make a buck, albeit not with any great integrity.

People such as this probably think that “Due Diligence” is someone’s name, M. Jansen. They wouldn’t know what it meant even if someone explained it to them slowly.

Fortunately I am used to facing claims and utterances without there being any proof. Unfortunately for him, there is a LOT of proof against Patrick. No doubt he will find someone to blame for his own incompetence. I mean to get fired from the civil service, you really need to be useless.

Good on you for catching this and calling it out. Guys like Patrick remind me of the 9/11 truthers who invent lies to support their conspiracy theories.

What really kills me about this is that Libya has confessed to the Pan Am 103 bombing, agreed to pay compensation to the victims, and the suitcase that had the explosives was identified as being owned by Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. And of course this Libyan terrorist was convicted in a court of a law as being the bomber.

Libya even uses Lockerbie now as a way of thumbing it's nose at the west, and especially when Scotland freed al-Megrahi due to so-called 'health reasons'. pffft. And look at the guy now? He is paraded around as a hero by Ghaddafi.

So Patrick is making up stuff. But what gets me about dudes like this is that they know how to use new media to spread their lies. He is all over the place on Facebook and elsewhere, and it is quite pathetic.

Patrick haseldine is posting that he will see you in court. He quotes that you "refuse" to answer his post. Apparently he still thinks spam is just bully beef in a can. I would love to see what angle he has to explain his need for a court date? He is the one sprouting unprovoked unproven conjecture bordering on libel. I am quite sure you have way more support in your corner than he will when he ambles into court with a piss poor excuse of a case that is based on at best fiction derived from what i suspect is his thumb and james hadley chase novels. I accept that your history isnt all puppy dogs and candy floss but i am sure that lockerbie is an acid trip to far by this irresponsible, reckless, loose lipped, fantasy writing glory hound.. Thats my 5 cents and I STAND BY IT!

Hello sir BarlowIn this book (France zaire congo 1960-1997 échec aux mercenaires)the autors accuse EO supplies pilots and MI for Mobutu before his fall in 97 and attack civilian villages.Is funny to see as Eeben Barlow and is shown as the big nasty of the history.respect sir barlowsir47

I do not know if anyone can actually state it better than your responses to this slander - very much the gentlemen but truly "put up or shut up" as we who frequently stop by are privy to.

I would revel in your testimony in open court in the US or before congress to knock the stuffing out of these clowns. Of course if they have only lies behind them there is no way they will risk discovery in open court. The financial pain you would inflict on them would make their great grand-children paupers...

I did post the following over on my FB after Matt sent all his followers over your way...

"Follow closely..The US is fighting an illegal war in Libya on behalf of the Brits and the French, The Libyans are sheltering the convicted bomber of Pan-Am 103, a Scottish scholar now is accusing the man who derailed the nefarious interests of several western countries to exploit Angola and Sierra Leone ("Blood Diamond" but the movie reverses the truth)- me-thinks somebody is trying to cover up a deal going sour."

I do hope I have not overstepped the truth here. If so, please delete my comments.

Scary to think that this clown was once a member of the UK’s FCO, John.

Equally scary to think that a man who touts himself as some gigantic legal brain allows his site to be3 used in this manner, but then it appears he has a deeper relationship with the SAQ security services than initially thought.

If these people accept the findings of the courts re Lockerbie Matt, they will have no one to listen to their theories or to pay them. I think this type of exploitation of people who lost family and friends in that bombing is a crime. Taking their money is nothing other than theft.

Given Patrick’s record as a civil servant, it is no wonder he was sacked.

I allowed his first post Michael but I will not allow him to use my blog for his own silly theories. I invited him to take me to court and will now wait to see how he does that. I have nothing to prove where he has everything to prove. But, ironically, many people know more about me than I know about myself.

Such accusations are nothing new to me, Sir47. I was even accused of assassinating a South Africa Prime Minister (Dr Verwoerd) in 1966 when I was still a pre-teen. (I wrote about this in my book).

It also goes to show just how deeply many so-called intellectuals were involved in assisting terror movements and in smuggling diamonds. I know that MANY individuals and companies suffered serious financial losses when UNITA and RUF were destroyed.

What is certain is that people like Patrick and even the good professor cannot afford to be exposed as liars or deceivers as their income will be negatively affected. Therefore, they desperately need to keep a lie such as this alive as it gives some hope to those who lost loved ones.

Thanks to you, Matt and everyone else for taking this matter further on FB (I do not do FB). As I mentioned previously, I too would love to stand in the court and see what their evidence is. As said before, I don’t have anything to prove and they have everything to prove.

i am disappointed as all hell! patrick has not deleted my comments even though he touts himself as "idiosyncratic" and wont tolerate negative comments. so i therefore have decided to wage a low intensity campaign on his blog and lay siege to his blog! '

here is my comment , after this i will post recipe`s for hallucinagenic muffins and shortbread cookies.michael b said... patrick, the reason Eeben has "refused" to comment to your second comment is that he has stated on his blog that he has zero wish nor need to contact you anymore relating to your wild accusations and has marked you as spam. oh and the spam he has tagged you as is not the corned beef variety you find in a can. i agree fully with Eeben! if you bothered to go and look at his blog you would have noted that before making redundant comments. to your original accusations i say BWAHAHAHAHA! brilliant, now i know who to blame for the fact that the tooth fairy did not bring me money for my tooth that i put under my pillow. Eeben obviously had him whacked! ps# he is free to take me to court so long as he buys me at least a business class ticket to the hague or wherever he fantasises he will sue the world.

On 15 August 2003, Libya's UN ambassador, Ahmed Own, submitted a letter to the UN Security Council formally accepting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" in relation to the Lockerbie bombing.The Libyan government then proceeded to pay compensation to each family of US$8 million (from which legal fees of about US$2.5 million were deducted) and, as a result, the UN cancelled the sanctions that had been suspended four years earlier, and US trade sanctions were lifted.On 23 February 2011, amidst the Libyan protests, Mustapha Abdel Jalil, former Libyan Justice Minister (and later member and Chairman of the anti Gaddafi National Transitional Council), alleged that he had proof that Libyan leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, had personally ordered Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to carry the bomb on to flight 103.for this clown of haseldine.Respect sir BarlowSir 47

I don’t think one should give them any attention Mike as it simply fuels their delusions and makes them think they are important. But, as I mentioned before, they need to keep any fire re Lockerbie alive as this is how money is made – exploiting the grieving and giving them false hope. They will stoop to any level in order to not only twist the truth but also to twist lies as well.

Thanks for your LIC attack on the Professor’s blog. However, I wouldn’t waste my time with that as they need these types of comments to continue with their deceptions. That said, the blog does not belong to Patrick but rather his friend Black.

once again you are ultimately correct. i wont really camp out and besiege his blog. its dreary and worthless. just letting my mind run rampant as apparently his does. i have written something about this for my own entretaiment value and post it to my blog for posterity.i will only reciprocate if he finds time inbetween taking hits off his bong to post rubbish at me. with the amount of BS he has laced the "report" with i can only deduce that he is an active drug addict hallucinating and suffering from paranoia. i dont have empirical proof supporting this theory, only circumstantial evidence and hear say, but if he can make wild allegations on "circumstantial evidence", well then so can i.. have a great weekend and thanks for a really funny posting. just a pity it is about something so serious. i trust you get my drift with that last bit.. no disrespect intended to you or those affected by the lockerbie disaster.mike

I read again devil incarnate,athol was not in the region 5 was can he participated has the long reach operation,gladio operation in italy,operations in england,the murder of the Minister olof palm in swedde and drugg trade for wouter basson and other actions.According to him,he was in the 32 batalion.I wanted to rectify my error on the region 5.But i don't understand how Athol could was in Europe without was in the region 5.It is a liar has your opinion?respect sir Barlowsir 47

Patrick has asked me to ask you questions! I have made it clear as day that i am firmly encamped on your side. I think he has bitten off more than he ever intended to chew. His facebook page is a mixture of funny as hell and pathetic. I am going to ban myself from his page and carry on worrying about more important things like flicking snot. He asked me to ask you for your "alibi" for december 21st 1988. Go figure?

Mike, you are welcome to act as Haseldine’s relay station if you want. However, I do not need to give you or him an alibi – in fact, as allegations were made about me, they must be substantiated with fact and not fiction.

As I have stated before, it is not for me to prove anything but for him to prove his lies.

I do believe that Haseldine will eventually be exposed as the liar he is. I find it strange that he can make allegations and demand an alibi from me (the man can simply read my book if he is so concerned about me).

I always thought that one was innocent until proven guilty. As for the professor who touts himself as a legal specialist (I pity his students!) allowing it on his blog says much for his legal brain.

Perhaps Prof Robert Black has finally realised that the law presumes innocence before deciding on guilt. What I still find astonishing is that he actually allowed slander and accusations such as Patrick’s to be posted on his blog – and he left it there for all to see.

I also wonder if someone had told him that I have been given his SA address. Little does he know that I don’t waste my time with people such as he that refers to himself as some great legal architect. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

As for Patrick, I pity the poor man. He is obviously so bitter and twisted – and incompetent to boot.

something i read that makes perfect sense. never relent , never stop till your adversary is beaten into submission or total, utter and complete surrender.lay siege and constantly badger the opponent with probing attacks that never cease. when on the run, pursue vigorously till total cessation through any means possible. give no quarter. makes oodles of sense, more armies should practice this simple ideology. even works when dealing with the bumbling buffoonary of those that should know better due to their supposed education and position within their respective fields of law.:::::just an arbitrary thought. at least this campaign can now be put to bed. patrick will no doubt carry on having nightmares for many moons to come. i hope he has learnt something from his dillyness? dont make wild unsubstantiated libellous comments that open very deep scars for the families who suffered loss due to the downing of pan am 103. mike

Interesting tidbit in this same light...Glenn Beck is broadcasting his radio show from South Africa today and described getting hammered by a popular on air personality there. Sounded similar to the treatment you have described about your experiences with the media.

I just chuckled as I listened to his show thinking about this blog....

You are definitely not alone out there. It looks as if "Mr Black" showed the true color of the streak down his back.

The world is littered with people who wish to raise their profiles, Wayne. The prove their foolishness by not even doing a bit of research...When they are challenged or exposed, they usually fade away, because that is what cowards do.

I didn’t know that he was here, John but it does not surprise me that he had a hard time. I can only guess who it was that hammered him...but I am sure that he just shrugged it off.

Some folks might have good intentions but they don’t consider the consequences of their actions and slowly but surely they are ruining this great country to the point where we are rapidly becoming the laughing stock of the universe.

I can just imagine what he thought when being attacked by these people...I recall my thoughts and the disbelief that some of them were supposed to inform the people not misinform them.

good day Eeben. it seems that patrick haseldine has now shifted his delusions to BP. he is waffling on about their collusion with the deal to free the charged bomber of pan am 103 in exchange for oil concessions and what not. i wonder what he will come up with next? mike da silva

Eeben, you might remember that I was part of the negotiation team at the time. It is the first time that read about this unreal conspiracy theory. It is all a load of BS. The reason for the change of flights was two-fold. There were breaches of the cease-fire agreement on both sides, which had to be dealt with before the signing of the New York agreement. The was also a dispute between the US and the Cubans. The US did not want to allow some of the Cuban delegates into the US. I flew from Frankfurt to Washington with Gen van Tonder. The rest of staffers went back to SA, while the principal negotiators remained in London. There was absolutely nothing sinister about it. We often speculated afterwards what would have happened if the team was on the flight. There was no forewarning, just fortunate turn of event. I am amazed at the lengths some people will go to discredit Gen Malan.

I am almost surprised that haseldine and his chum have not blamed you for flight 295, sa airways helderberg. There is sufficient speculative circumstantial evidence to implicate Ronald Mcdonald, the Mcdonalds very suspicious clown mascot, so why not lump that on you too.

I suppose theories will abound re Pan Am 103 and I am sure Donald Coleman’s book, although I haven’t read it, has brought about its own criticisms from those he accused. I note that they took action against him (Wikipedia) and one can only wonder what really happened on that day.

Thankfully though, I seem not to have been accused by him and his co-author.